And Life Begins
by ImpulsesOfLife
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are attending college in New Rome. It's summer break, and August 18th comes around— Percy's 19th birthday and the couple's third-year anniversary. Annabeth's hoping Percy has something special up his sleeve... And in the end, he definitely does. Percabeth! In honour of Percy's birthday.


**Hi, and happy late birthday to Percy Jackson! :P In honour of our favourite demigod, I have prepared this Percabeth one-shot. It takes place on August 17th & 18th two years after BoO while Percy and Annabeth are attending college in New Rome.**

 **The song Percy starts singing later in the fic is called You Are A Safe Place by Caitlin Mahoney. It just screamed Percabeth to me, I couldn't resist adding it! :) It's a great song, so I highly recommend listening to it, especially while you're reading that part.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO (rights belong to Rick Riordan), You Are A Safe Place (rights belong to Caitlin Mahoney), Fallen (rights belong to Imagine Dragons) or the clothing company Hollister.**

 **Lastly, this story is rated T because there is a kissing scene, but nothing too in-depth. Happy reading! :)**

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

Annabeth was sprawled out on the couch, sipping lemonade and reading a book about the Renaissance when Percy burst through the door to their little townhouse.

"Hey Annabeth!" he called. Annabeth smiled giddily. She and Percy had been attending college in New Rome together for almost a year now, and it was finally summer. Now that the pair could take their minds off college for a couple months, they were free to spend all of their time chatting, sparring, kissing, and visiting all the places and people they didn't have time to see while classes were in session: Camp Half-Blood, Sally and Paul, Annabeth's dad, Helen and the twins… It was sure to be a great break.

Annabeth would be lying if she ever uttered the words, "I hate college." She didn't hate college at all—in fact, she _adored_ it. But as she and Percy were getting older, she wanted to focus on their relationship as much as possible before college ended and the serious matter of jobs, kids and houses came crashing down upon them. She for a fact knew that the two of them were not ready to have kids, so there was no need to buy a house, which meant there was no need for a job to pay for one (town houses in New Rome were free). So basically, until their relationship reached the ultimate, maturing level of "We're ready to have kids," they weren't going anywhere in life. Which, to bring it all back to the point, meant a summer of bonding together.

"Hey Perce," she called back, laying down her book on their coffee table and sitting up. She reached for her glass of lemonade and was about to take another sip when Percy walked into the living room, shirtless. His hands were resting in the pockets of his knee-length athletic shorts. Annabeth froze in place for a moment, hand in mid-air, admiring the view of Percy's perfectly sculpted physique… But she reluctantly told herself to look away so she could at least put down the glass. Dropping it at the sight of his abs would only feed Percy's ego. Sure, he was hot… Okay, really hot… Alright, fine, full-on gorgeous. But if he knew just how hot Annabeth actually thought he was, she was certain she'd never hear the end of it.

As it was, Percy leaned against the wall and smirked, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes and settled back into the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt, anyways?" Annabeth grumbled. _Not that I'm complaining,_ she added in her head.

Percy smiled. "I was playing soccer with Jason, who came to visit for the day, and a couple of other demigods. It's as hot as the lava inside Mount St. Helens outside."

Annabeth rolled her eyes once again, this time at Percy's cheesy metaphor, which she was certain was supposed to hint towards their trip there when Percy had literally blown up Mount St. Helens and, probably, experienced how hot the lava was… Or maybe he was hoping Annabeth thought of the moment before that, when she'd kissed Percy for the very first time. She didn't even know if it qualified as a legitimate first kiss, since she thought Percy might've died that day and it was sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Because if he _had_ died then, Annabeth would've never forgiven herself for not kissing the fool. Also, he hadn't really responded. Also, it was only about a two-second kiss.

Also… The fact was, Annabeth had always secretly referred to the underwater kiss as their first, because it was perfectly timed, and, well, _two-sided._ It wasn't just an, _Oh-gods-one-of-us-might-die-better-kiss-you_ sort of smooch, it was a _Holy-Hera-we-survived-now-let's-both-kiss-each other-because-we-like-one another!_ kiss. It was how Annabeth always imagined her first kiss would be (and yes, she thought about her first kiss, because what girl didn't?)—romantic, original, memorable, and at the right time with the right person—so in her mind, that was it. The one. _Numéro uno._ She wondered which of their kisses Percy considered to be their first. She hoped he considered the underwater kiss their first official one, too.

Percy plopped down on the couch beside her, snapping Annabeth out of her thoughts. "So," he said excitedly, snaking an arm around her waist. "You still haven't told me what we're doing tomorrow for my birthday."

Right. Percy's nineteenth birthday was the next day, August 18th. It was also their anniversary, but they mostly celebrated Percy's birthday. Simply spending time together every day was a continuous reminder of how much they loved each other—they didn't need one little day to remind them of their feelings when they constantly thought about how in love they were anyway. Although, Annabeth secretly wished Percy had planned something for them. Maybe she'd drop a super subtle hint at doing something special for their anniversary that year…

"About that," said Annabeth a bit guiltily. "I know I told you I'd planned something, but, well… I sort of lied. I have a present and cake and stuff, but I just thought we could spend the day together instead of, say, booking reservations at a fancy restaurant or something."

Percy grinned and pecked her cheek. "Sounds good to me." Maybe it was just Annabeth and her wishful thinking, but she thought he sounded… _happy_ that she'd planned a nothing-filled day, as if _he_ had something planned. Or maybe Annabeth was going a little crazy and Percy was just excited to spend some quality time with her.

Annabeth snuggled into Percy, enjoying his company and his warmth despite the heat. Percy tugged at one of Annabeth's curls for a while. Annabeth marvelled at the way he was winding it around his finger and unwinding it and winding it back around again and unwinding it and—

Annabeth flashed back to reality as Percy kissed her softly on the lips. He pulled back, staring at her. A hint of a smirk ghosted across his face. "Daydreaming again, huh Wise Girl? My flawless muscles get you again?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and punched his arm playfully. "Nah," she said, "I got hypnotized by your finger fiddling with my curls."

"I knew it!" cried Percy. Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows and gave him an inquisitive look. Thankfully, he explained himself (although it was a bit of an explanation à la ADHD). "Your curls! They're so… I don't know, _distracting._ I can't leave them alone! And clearly they work their magic even on you, their owner! I for one have to play with them all the time because… Well, because," he reasoned stubbornly. "Or I at least have to look at them. You know, if you're ever thinking about cutting your hair, call me first and I will make sure you don't do it because you'll regret—"

Annabeth cut him off by shoving Percy down on the couch and kissing him hard. At first, his eyes widened in surprise as Annabeth continued to kiss him, but then he relaxed into it and kissed her back. Annabeth kissed along his jawline, across his forehead, down the bridge of his nose, along his neck and collarbone and shoulders and _gods,_ she loved Percy. She especially loved kissing him, and now more than ever—because they were always alone in their townhouse, and they would spend hours a day on weekends cuddling and kissing on the couch. Annabeth was more used to that sort of affection now.

Of course, they hadn't actually done anything _serious_ yet, like… like… Annabeth felt dirty even thinking the word. But Hades, who cared? She for one wasn't ready for it and if Percy was, then he didn't show it. Annabeth had a sneaking suspicion that he himself wasn't ready either. And that was perfectly okay. They weren't the type of couple that needed to "get it on," so to speak, in order to keep their relationship alive. They loved every single thing about each other, flaws, quirks, imperfections and all, and that was enough.

Every once in a while Percy let out a tiny moan as Annabeth continued to pepper his chest and shoulders and neck and face with kisses, kisses and more kisses. Finally, Annabeth's lips wandered back to Percy's lips again, and as they kissed she felt his lips smirk against hers. Realizing too late that Percy was about to do something, Annabeth felt herself being lifted up into the air, and in a matter of seconds, she was lying down on the couch as Percy hovered over her, now peppering _her_ face and neck with kisses. Annabeth laughed a little. Sue her, it tickled.

When Percy had kissed practically every inch of Annabeth's revealed skin, he reached for the hem of her t-shirt and tugged on it. "Is this okay…?" he asked uncertainly. Annabeth nodded, leaning up momentarily so she could pull her shirt up and over her head, and flopping back down on the couch. She thanked the gods that she'd worn her plain grey bra, because if she'd pulled her shirt off for Percy to reveal the old purple polka-dotted bra she wore on most days…? To say the least, the thought of it was a bit embarrassing. She shouldn't have bothered being worried though, because she knew Percy wouldn't have cared.

Percy placed kisses down her body, and he didn't stop kissing when they heard a small noise that sounded to Annabeth like the little _bang_ their sticky front door made when it was opened. She wasn't in the mood to go and check, though, and besides, Percy had locked the door when he'd come in… Right? Plus, Annabeth hadn't given out a spare key to anybody yet.

Annabeth bit her lip as Percy continued to cover her in kisses. Annabeth tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled his face towards her so they could kiss on the lips, but just before their lips touched, someone who was _not_ Percy started coughing. Percy shot up off the couch and so did Annabeth. Jason was standing in the living room's entryway, choking on the Diet Sprite in his hands.

Annabeth scrambled to put on her t-shirt, and Percy ran over and patted Jason's back. When he finally stopped coughing, he glared at Percy. "Dude!" yelled Jason. "If you're gonna give me a key to your house, don't start making out shirtless on the _living room couch,_ where an innocent person could _easily_ come across you! And I didn't need to see that!" he screeched, part nervously and part angrily.

Annabeth blushed, but Percy rolled his eyes. "Right. And it's not like I haven't walked in on you and _Piper_ in the Zeus cabin before."

"That's different!" cried Jason. "We had our shirts on!"

Percy shrugged indifferently. "Same diff."

"Whatever," called Jason, throwing a key—presumably his spare key to their townhouse—at Percy. "Keep it," he said, walking out. "And thanks for the Sprite."

• • •

The next day, Annabeth awoke bright and early thanks to the earbuds she'd placed in her ears. At 6:00 a.m., they had effectively blared Imagine Dragons' "Fallen" at full volume straight into her eardrums. Yup, that had done the trick.

The reason for her odd method of awakening was that she didn't want to wake Percy up, too. Her plan was to shower, dress, and make him his favourite breakfast: Sally Jackson's blue pancakes. Blue food still equaled comfort, love and good memories to Percy, so Annabeth had gotten Sally's pancake recipe the last time they'd visited her and had gone to the supermarket yesterday to stock up on blue food dye. Everything was set and ready to go for a perfectly simple birthday morning.

Annabeth hopped into the shower, quickly shampooing her hair, slathering her body in body wash, and rinsing everything off, taking an impressive five minutes total. Annabeth liked to take her time in the shower, normally spending twenty or even thirty minutes basking in the warmth of the water flowing over her, but today she was in a rush so she cut down her shower relaxation time (a.k.a., the amount of time she stood in the shower doing nothing) to about two minutes rather than the usual fifteen or twenty.

Shutting off the flow of the water and stepping out into the cold bathroom, Annabeth shivered slightly. She grabbed her fluffy grey towel from the counter and dried her body, which helped with the cold. Then she put some moisturizer on her legs, looked at her curls in the mirror and decided she wasn't in the mood to deal with them. Annabeth somewhat towel-dried her hair so that it wasn't dripping wet, then spent three minutes trying to successfully twist a hair elastic around her thick, stickily wet locks. Finally, she managed to make a decent ponytail, which she then twisted up into a bun because she didn't want to get her shirt all wet, especially if she was dressing somewhat nicer for Percy's birthday and their anniversary.

But when Annabeth exited the bathroom clad in her towel and opened up their closet, she found she didn't want to dress fancy at all. Because it was Percy's birthday, though, and their anniversary as well, Annabeth made herself step into a pair of dark denim skinny jeans and slide on a white blouse even though she'd rather have thrown on a pair of sweats and an old Camp Half-Blood t-shirt.

Finally ready for the day to start, she made her way into the kitchen where the digital clock on the stove read 6:34 a.m. Annabeth pulled out flour, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, baking powder and baking soda from the cupboards, and eggs and buttermilk from the fridge. She followed the instructions—written in Sally's graceful, loopy handwriting—carefully, first combining the dry ingredients, then whisking together the wet ones, adding in a third of the little bottle of food colouring, and then stirring the dry and wet mixes together just slightly, so that the batter was consistently blue and still lumpy.

Lots of people doubted Annabeth's cooking skills, from Percy to Thalia to her own father, but Annabeth had been taking cooking classes in between two of her college courses, which Percy didn't know about. Annabeth had been okay at cooking before the classes, having just enough skill to fry up an egg or bake a decent batch of cookies, but the thrice-weekly cooking classes she'd been taking for nearly the past year now had boosted her confidence in the kitchen and taught her to cook like a boss. Her keen attention to detail allowed her to learn quickly.

Annabeth took out the pancake griddle she'd borrowed from Sally, set it to the temperature shown on the recipe sheet, and waited a couple minutes for it to warm up. Then she pulled out a 1/3 cup and proceeded to scoop up batter and drop it onto the griddle in round formations.

Less than ten minutes later, Annabeth was left with a batch of perfect blue pancakes and a bunch of dirty dishes to clean up. She stacked the pancakes onto a plate and placed it in the oven, which she'd set to _warm,_ while she cleaned up the mess she'd made.

Annabeth went around putting all the ingredients back where they'd come from and rinsing dishes in warm water before placing them in the dishwasher. When she was done, she washed her hands, went back upstairs to her and Percy's bedroom and gently shook him awake. "Perce," whispered Annabeth. Percy kept snoring. "Percy," she said at an appropriate indoor volume, nudging his shoulder.

Still no response from Percy, who was snoring away happily.

"Seaweed Brain!" called Annabeth, on the brink of yelling. She shook his shoulder.

 _Still_ he snored on.

Annabeth sighed and, rolling her eyes, leaned over and kissed Percy. Almost immediately he stopped snoring and his eyes popped open. As soon as he was awake, Annabeth pulled back with a grin.

"About time," she commented with a smirk, tapping the imaginary watch everyone seems to have on their wrist.

Percy ginned sheepishly. "Sorry. I can't help liking to sleep." He tossed back the covers and stood up, stretching. Then he walked over to where Annabeth was leaning against the door frame and hugged her tightly. "Happy anniversary, Wise Girl," he whispered.

Annabeth shivered with delight. "You too," she said quietly. Then she pulled back and smiled. "I made you breakfast. Now go brush your teeth, you have morning breath."

• • •

The look on Percy's face when he'd seen Annabeth's blue pancakes on the counter was priceless. He looked, well, like a kid in a candy shop. Annabeth got them both plates and Percy stacked five onto his. When he took his first bite and swallowed it, he gave her a lopsided grin and a thumbs-up. Annabeth tried her own pancakes and true enough, couldn't deny the deliciousness of them.

After breakfast, Annabeth gave Percy his birthday/anniversary present (two in one, because she couldn't decide on a second gift… Plus the breakfast she'd made Percy sort of counted as a present since she _never_ made him breakfast).

Since Percy had gotten Annabeth a little red coral pendant from Poseidon's palace for her camp necklace to remind her of him when they started dating, and Annabeth had never given _him_ something like that, she'd decided to finally get him a charm for his own camp necklace. (Both Percy and Annabeth still wore their camp necklaces 24/7. Even though they weren't fighting for their lives with the camp at all times, they were and always would be Greek demigods of Camp Half-Blood—or at least, that was how Annabeth saw it. Plus, the necklace brought back lots of memories, some bad but most good.)

The charm was a minuscule clay owl. It was special because similarly to Percy's gifted charm to Annabeth, Annabeth's charm for Percy was one-of-a-kind and also from her godly parent. As Percy knew, Annabeth had redesigned the Olympians' throne room—which included remodelling their thrones. Athena's new throne in Olympus's throne room was covered in intricately designed hand-made clay owls, and during the fabrication Annabeth had calculated for two extra to be made. She'd then proceeded to grab them as stealthily as possible from the pile, and bring them back to New Rome for Percy and herself. She figured that with everything that had happened in her life, Annabeth's mother wouldn't mind surrendering two over-calculated details.

The owl Annabeth had picked for Percy had a grey feathered coat with its wings expanded in flight. The stomach feathers were grey and tinted with a bluish-green colour, the eyes a piercing yellow. The little owl, which Annabeth had gotten Leo to delicately drill a hole through and attach to a silver loop so it could slide onto Percy's camp necklace, was a near duplicate of Annabeth's, except hers was all grey.

But the real reason Annabeth had gotten him the pendant as a gift was because she liked the idea of them still having something that matched. To be honest, Annabeth was upset when their grey streaks from holding up the sky had faded away—they had connected her and Percy in a way no one else was connected. But then the streaks were gone and they didn't have that special connection. The owls were a new way to connect them (without the literal horrible pain of having the weight of the sky upon their shoulders, of course).

Percy was happy with the pendant, especially when he saw that Annabeth had a matching one. They kissed, and then helped each other string the pendants onto their necklaces.

Percy and Annabeth sat facing each other criss-cross-applesauce on the carpet when they were done adding the pendants to their necklaces.

"I have a present for you, too," said Percy with a grin. "But I'll give it to you at the bonfire tonight."

 _Right._ _The bonfire._ Every time it was a college student's birthday in New Rome, the campus held a huge bonfire in celebration. It was their way of celebrating how the demigod had grown and that they'd survived this long and were slowly making their way out into the world. Plus, it wasn't too much trouble considering there were only about 75 kids on campus. There was usually a bonfire once or twice every week. Annabeth figured everyone was excited for this one, because the entire city knew who Percy was and how much he'd helped them. So his birthday was definitely a cause for a big celebration.

Annabeth wondered why Percy was waiting until the bonfire—which was completely public—to give her his present, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind and smiled at him. "M'kay."

• • •

Later that day, Percy and Annabeth sat among a crowd of college students huddled around a bonfire. Everyone was dressed warmly in sweat pants and sweatshirts. Annabeth was wearing a pair of ripped grey sweats and her new white Hollister California sweatshirt. Percy was dressed in super baggy dark grey sweats and a plain blue sweatshirt with white drawstrings. Even in summer, New Rome got surprisingly cold at night. Annabeth supposed it only added to the mood, though, for events like this. Dressing snugly made the bonfire seem more cozy.

Dakota walked into the middle of the circle and cleared his throat. A hush fell over the crowd.

"Fellow students!" he bellowed. "Today we are here to celebrate the birthday of one of New Rome's greatest and most accomplished demigods, though he is Greek: Percy Jackson!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, including Annabeth. She didn't blame the people: Nearly everyone liked Percy. The fact was, you couldn't _not_ like the guy. Annabeth considered herself one of the luckiest people on the planet, being with Percy.

"It's my birthday too!" called a quiet voice in the back. "Shush," replied Dakota with a glare, taking a swig out of his Kool-Aid canteen. Annabeth couldn't help but feel sorry for them and vowed to find out who it was so they could celebrate their birthday another night.

"We will now proceed to sing to Percy the standard and ever-adored, 'Happy Birthday!'" The crowd cheered again and Dakota led them through the singing of 'Happy Birthday'. When they finished, more cheering ensued, until Gwen stood up in the audience and bellowed loudly, "Stand up, Percy, sing a song!"

The rest of the crowd started to join in her singing. "Stand up, Percy, sing a song!"

Annabeth grinned at Percy and joined in too. "We won't shut up, 'til you stand up, stand up Percy sing a song!"

"LOUDER!" cried everyone. "Stand up, Percy, sing a song! Stand up, Percy, sing a song! We won't shut up, 'til you stand up, stand up Percy—" Percy finally stood up next to her, knowing full well the crowd literally wouldn't stop singing the prompt until he stood up and sang, and everyone cheered again. Percy walked up to the front of the bonfire to stand beside Dakota.

"'Kay. I know it's sort of tradition to sing a sillier song, but can I sing an actual song?"

Dakota nodded enthusiastically, gulping down more Kool-Aid. "Go for it!"

"Awesome," said Percy. "I'll need a guitar…"

A random person in the crowd rushed forward, guitar in hand, and handed it over to Percy. "Thanks," said Percy gratefully, slinging the guitar strap around his neck.

"So!" he called out to the audience. "As lots of you probably already know, I've been taking guitar lessons during my spare time here in New Rome." A couple people whooped, and Percy grinned. "I was pretty horrible when I first started out, but now I'm getting better." He quickly tuned his guitar, and then announced, "This one's for Annabeth." A couple people _aw_ 'd, and Annabeth blushed when Percy caught her eye and grinned wider.

Then he started playing. He strummed the guitar lightly, and then he started to sing. Annabeth was kind of surprised; She'd never really heard him sing before. Percy was actually pretty good.

 _"_ _You are my soft place to land._

 _When nothing in my life makes sense, I know you'll understand_

 _where I'm coming from and where I'm going to."_

Annabeth smiled. She couldn't help but adore Percy right then: For some reason the song seemed to represent them and everything they stood for, and it was obvious he was pouring passion and meaning into the words. Percy continued singing.

 _"_ _You are the words I can't seem to find._

 _If we lose our way down this road, I don't mind._

 _It's something I can't explain, but I'll never complain_

 _because you are a safe place for me._

 _You are a wall on which I can lean._

 _You know if I say it wrong exactly what I mean._

 _What we have is comfortable."_

Percy started walking slowly towards Annabeth as he played and sang.

 _"_ _You are the soles of my favourite shoes._

 _If I can't decide, you won't force me to choose._

 _It's something I can't explain, but I've found my way in,_

 _and you are a safe place for me._

 _When the walls start caving in,_

 _when the water is so deep I can't swim for long,_

 _when my hands are weak and cold and alone,_

 _you take them in yours and you lead me home._

 _It's something I can't explain, but here I'll remain_

 _because you are a safe place for me…"_

When Percy finished, he was standing right in front of her. The crowd erupted into cheers and more _aw!_ 's, which made Annabeth smile and blush as she clapped for him too.

Annabeth leaned in to Percy and whispered, "I love you" in his ear. Percy grinned and whispered into her ear, "I love you too."

Then he did something that Annabeth wouldn't have suspected he'd do in a million years.

Percy set down his guitar.

He got down on one knee and pulled a little black box out of his sweat pants pocket.

"Annabeth," he said sincerely, "I love you to bits. Will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

Short and sweet. Annabeth loved it and she loved him and she always thought she'd be the one to propose because Percy wouldn't have the guts, but here he was, on his knee, waiting for her answer. Annabeth's heart swelled to two times its normal size.

She smiled, fighting back tears of happiness because Annabeth Chase didn't cry, but she loved him so much it was making it so damn hard for her to keep the tears from spilling out.

"Yes," she whispered with a smile. Percy smiled so wide his mouth took up half his face. He gently slid the ring onto Annabeth's finger, then stood up and stared into her eyes for a second before engulfing her in a hug and then pulling back for a kiss. For the third time that night, _aw_ 's and cheering erupted from the crowd.

Percy scooped up Annabeth in his arms bridal-style with a grin on his face. "Goodnight, guys!" he yelled, and then he carried Annabeth off into the night.

* * *

 **D'aww :) I really liked writing that, so I hope you enjoyed reading it! Please favourite and leave a review if you have the time :)**

 **–** **ImpulsesOfLife**

 ** _A/N [August 18th, 2016]: It's been a year (happy birthday to Percy again!), so I decided to go in and edit some grammar stuff. No major changes were made to the plot, I just cleaned up/refined the writing a bit more. Thanks for reading, and for all the support this story has gotten! :)_**


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